The monthly report on new residential construction from the Commerce
Department showed on Thursday the housing starts fell by 4.1 percent m-o-m in January
2022 to a seasonally adjusted annual pace of 1.638 million (the lowest level
since October 2021), while building permits rose by 0.7 percent m-o-m to a
seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.899 (the highest level since May 2006).
Economists had forecast housing starts decreasing to a pace of 1.700
million units last month and building permits declining to a pace of 1.760
million units.
Data for December 2021 was revised to show homebuilding growing at a
pace of 1.708 million units, instead of increasing at a rate of 1.702 million
units as previously reported.
According to the report, permits for single-family homes, the largest
segment of the market, surged by 6.8 percent m-o-m in January, while approvals
for the multi-family homes segment (includes 2 to 4 and 5 or more housing
units) fell 8.3 percent m-o-m.
In the meantime, groundbreaking on single-family
homes plunged by 5.6 percent m-o-m in January, while multi-unit starts
decreased 0.8 percent m-o-m.